Clay gun



. 5, 1944. w. R. BROWN ETAL CLAY GUN Filed Dec. 1, 1941 3 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 5, 1944. w. R. BROWN ET AL CLAY GUN s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 1, 1941 Dec. 5, 1944. w. R. BROWN CLAY GUN Filed Dec. 1,

/I Q Q ET AL 2,364,513

3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Dec. 5, 1944 CLAY GUN William Reid Brown and Norman Ashton Grave- .son, Stockton-on-Tees, England, assignors to Ashmore, Benson, Pease and Company Limited, Stockton-on-Tees, England, a British com- A plication December 1,1941, Serial No. 421,236 In Great Britain December 13, i940 7 Qlairns. (Cl. 266-42) The present invention relates to an improved clay or mud gun such as is used for plugging up the tapping holes of blast furnaces to arrest the flow of molten metal therefrom.

Clay guns usuallycomprise a cylinder charged with clay, which is brought into position in the tapping hole, and the clay ejected from the cylinder by means of a ram or piston operated by mechanical, hydraulic, steam or other fluid pressure.

According to the present invention the clay gun has a cylinder freely suspended in guides and a ram or piston displaceable in the cylinder, which, prior to the ejection of the clay, causes, by the reaction of the clay therein, the descent and forward displacement of the cylinder of the gun and the maintenance of its nozzle end in sealing contact with the tapping hole of the furnace.

I The invention is. more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: v

Fig. 1 is. a side. elevation; ofonef of co struction,

Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan view.

Fig. 3 is a detail on an enlarged scale.

During tapping of the furnace the mud gun will lie wholly clear of the tapping hole I of the furnace, and then, when it is desired to plug this tapping hole I, the parts are swung round through an are into the position shown in'Fig. 2 by completing the circuit of the driving motor 2, so that the whole turn-table frame 3, carrying the cylinder 4 of the gun and the operating parts for the ram 5, are swung round about the centre of the shaft 6 driven by worm gear 1 from the motor 2. The cylinder 4 is supported at one end from a pivot M2 by a link [2, and at the other V end by trunnions Ill sliding in inclined guides l l on the frame 3.

When the cylinder 4 has been swung round into alignment with the tapping hole I of the furnace, as indicated in Fig. 1, it is locked in this position by a gravity catch 8 engaging a socket 9 on the fixed jacket 9 of the furnace.

The cylinder 4 is mounted on trunnions l sliding in guides ll. The trunnions I0 will then be lying at the top left hand end of the guides ll, whilst the cylinder 4, also supported by the link [2, will be lying in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The gun in this position is charged with clay inserted through the opening 22 in the top of the cylinder closed by hinge plate 22. If now the motor i6 is started up the sprocket l driven from this motor by the pinion drive H5 and gearing 6 from worm Ill driven by the shaft 0r motor is will impart a thrust to the chain [4, the end link of which is connected to the ram or piston .5. In view, however, of the resistance of the clay in the cylinder 4, the thrust will be imparted through the clay to the cylinder 4 which thus automatically swings on the link I2 about the pivot H2 and moves with its trunnions 10 down the guides ll until the nozzle l3 of the cylinder contacts withthetapping hole opening I. After this a charge of clay isejected from the cylinder to plug the hole.

As will be seen from Fig. 3, each chainlink n has aboss [8 upon it, so that'a thrustcan be imparted to the chain which then acts as a rigid shaft thrusting the piston or ram 5 forward. The slack of the chain or the free end of the chain is led into a guide'3ll, being accommodated on the floor [9 of theturn-table frame 3.

If desired the motor I6 may either be controlled by hand or by an overload switch, or both.

The thrust applied to the piston or ram 5, due to the resistance of theclay in the cylinder barrel 4, displaces the cylinder barrel 4 in the forward direction prescribed by the links [2 swinging about the pivot I l 2 and the trunnions [0 moving in the guides ll until the nozzle I3 is arrested upon making contact with the face of the tapping hole. As the thrust on the piston or ram 5 persists, the latter, when the cylinder barrel 4 is arrested, will continue in a forward direction within and relative to the cylinder barrel 4, thus ejecting the clay through the nozzle l3 into the tapping hole. The ejection of clay will continue until the'motor I6 is stopped or until the piston or ram 5 reaches the limit of travel within the cylinder barrel 4,

This completes the plugging operation.

To withdraw the gun after the plugging operation is complete, the motor [6 is started ,in the reverse direction, the rammer chain M then drags the piston or ram 5 to the rear end of the cylinder barrel 4 until it reaches the limit of travel within the cylinder barrel 4; from thenceforward it draws with it the cylinder barrel 4 which then moves in the reverse direction prescribed by the links H! and the trunnions l0 acting in the guides II. The gun has then resumed the position on the carriage which it occupied prior to the commencement of the plugging operation.

We declare that what We claim is:

l. A clay gun for plugging a tapping hole in a furnace, comprising in combination guides in line with the tapping hole of said furnace, a clay cylinder having a filling opening and floating freely in said guides, said cylinder having a discharge opening directed toward but normally spaced from the furnace tapping hole, a piston in said cylinder, and means to impart a thrust to the piston whilst leaving the cylinder. free to move in its guides, thereby to move the cylinder to present its discharge opening in the tapping hole, and

then eject clay from the cylinder into said hole.

2. A clay gun for plugging a tapping hole in a furnace, comprising in combination a cylinder having an open discharge end, said cylinder having an opening through which the gun can be filled with clay, a ram in said cylinder, a cylinder supporting frame, cylinder mounting means on the frame and including guides for the rear end of said cylinder, a pivoted link supporting the front end of said cylinder, said frame being movable to place the discharge end of the cylinder in cooperative relation to the plugging hole of the furnace, means to impart a thrust to said ram whereby the cylinder is displaced on said guides until in contact with the plugging hole of the furnace and then the ram is displaced in said cylinder to force clay into said hole, and a gravity catch to lock the frame when the cylinder is in cooperative relation to said hole.

3. A clay gun for plugging a tapping hole in a furnace comprising in combination a cylinder having a filling opening by which the gun can be filled with clay, a ram in said cylinder, supporting means for said cylinder whilst allowing free movement of the cylinder in a vertical plane, and means to impart a thrust to the ram whereby the cylinder is displaced in a vertical plane by the reaction on the clay until arrested by the furnace opening, whereupon the ram is displaced along said cylinder for ejecting the clay.

4. A clay gun for plugging a tapping hole in a furnace comprising in combination an open ended cylinder having a filling opening in its side, guides for said gun and a ram in said cylinder, a charge of clay in said cylinder forming a coupling between cylinder and ram, means to support said cylinder whilst allowing freedom of movement in said guides, means to impart pressure to the ram to displace both ram and cylinder by reason of the clay coupling between them, until the cylinder contacts with the plugging hole of the furnace, and then means to further displace the ram relatively to the cylinder to eject clay therefrom.

5. A clay gun for plugging a tap hole in a furnace comprising in combinationa cylinder, means through which the said cylinder can be filled with clay, a ram in said cylinder, guides on which the cylinder is freely displaceable to and from the tapping hole of the furnace, and means to impart a thrust to the ram to first displace the cylinder in said guides by reaction of the clay alone, and then to eject clay from the cylinder.

6. A clay gun for plugging a tap hole in a furnace comprising in combination a cylinder, means through which the said cylinder can be filled with clay, a ram in said cylinder, guides for the rear end of the said cylinder, a pivoted link supporting the front end of said cylinder, and means to impart a thrust to said ram to first displace the cylinder by clay reaction alone until it contacts with the plugging hole of the furnace, and then to eject clay from the cylinder.

7. A clay gun for plugging the tapping hole of a furnace, comprising in combination a cylinder having a filling opening by which the gun can be filled with clay, a ram in said cylinder, means to support said cylinder whilst allowing freedom of movement along a prescribed path, and means to impart a thrust between the ram and a fixed point external to the cylinder whereby the cylinder is displaced along the prescribed path by the resistance of the clay until said cylinder is arrested by the face of the tapping hole, whereupon the ram is displaced along said cylinder and the clay projected into said tapping hole.

WILLIAM REID BROWN. NORMAN ASHTON GRAVESON. 

